Jugo de Peru: A smoothie to me and you

Below is a picture of a traditional juice (jugo) de Peru. So far, the fresh fruit every morning has been my favorite part of staying here in Peru! It is so sweet and rich, I cannot even imagine how good chocolate covered strawberries might taste here!

In the United States, I have always been a smoothie person, but I had trouble breaking out of my usual strawberry/banana. It is very easy to try new things here because in the morning my host father prepares different juices for us. I feel like a queen because it is freshly squeezed every morning from fresh fruit bought in the market the day before.

The portions are huge as well — this one that had I had for lunch at school had its own whole pitcher! This particular juice is made with papaya and a couple other fruits, including mangos and pineapple for sweetness. The Peruvian version of juice is better than our juice and is comparable to the consistency of a smoothie or Naked juice. The most exciting part for me is that smoothies in the United States might cost four or five dollars, but here it is only one or two! I feel so lucky to be in a place where the food is so great and inexpensive!

Half consumed pitcher of jugo de papaya, because I couldn’t wait!

Because it’s Monday

Today I walked up to my new group of Peruvian friends and found that they had several stacks of flowers littered across the table and were giving them to everyone they saw. It was a mix of notebooks, laptops and flowers, and I was delighted. After they decorated my hair and backpack in white and yellow flowers I couldn’t help but ask what the occasion was. Everyone seemed to be happy and celebrating! They all turned to me and in unison said, “Porque es lunes!”